You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter
552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 135043.

The Texas Water Development Board (the "board") received a request for a copy of the grant
and loan applications submitted to the board by Parker County Utility District No. 1. You
claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.107(1)
of the Government Code. We assume that you have released to the requestor a copy of the
grant and loan applications. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the
submitted information.

Section 552.107(1) excepts information that an attorney of a political subdivision cannot
disclose because of a duty to his client. In Open Records Decision No. 574 (1990), this
office concluded that section 552.107 excepts from public disclosure only "privileged
information," that is, information that reflects either confidential communications from the
client to the attorney or the attorney's legal advice or opinions; it does not apply to all client
information held by a governmental body's attorney. Open Records Decision No. 574
at 5 (1990). A "confidential communication" is a communication "not intended to be
disclosed to third persons other than those to whom disclosure is made in furtherance of the
rendition of professional legal services to the client or those reasonably necessary for the
transmission of the communication." Tex. R. Evid. 503(a)(5). When communications from
attorney to client do not reveal the client's communications to the attorney, section 552.107
protects them only to the extent that such communications reveal the attorney's legal opinion
or advice. Id. at 3. In addition, purely factual communications from attorney to client, or
between attorneys representing the client, are not protected. Id.

You assert that the submitted information contains communications between the board's
attorney and staff members which were made in the course of the attorney providing legal
services to the board. After reviewing the submitted information, we conclude that most of
the documents are protected by section 552.107(1). However, we believe that document two
does not reveal the client's communications or the attorney's legal opinion or advice.
Further, portions of document four contain purely factual communications that are not
protected. See Open Records Decision No. 574 (1990) (the factual recounting of events,
including the documentation of calls made, meetings attended, and memos sent, are not
excepted from disclosure by section 552.107(1)). We have marked the information which
you may withhold under section 552.107(1).

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the
facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous
determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited
from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the
governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by
filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the
full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days.Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the
governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general
have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id.
§ 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested
information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the
statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the
governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public records;
2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records will be
provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental
body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one
of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor should report
that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839.
The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id.
§ 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the
requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental
body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,
411 (Tex. App.-Austin 1992, no writ).

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments
about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for
contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days
of the date of this ruling.